


Pick a star (for us)

by samsarchives



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-28 07:48:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20422439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samsarchives/pseuds/samsarchives
Summary: Despite being friends with the same group, El and Mike have never really met. Of course, they've heard about the other in the past by only first names and fond stories that their friends had shared with them, but they were never really aware of each other's lives.This is what happens when El, while looking through portfolios of photographers for the magazine she works in, founds herself captivated by the pictures of this photographer named Michael Wheeler. Excited, she emails him a job offer right away, without a clue that she's actually sending it to Mike.





	1. Prelude: New beginnings

As he got into the cab that was gonna take him to the airport, Mike thought about everything he was leaving behind and everything he had achieved during his stayed in London. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say this moment felt like a movie scene: it was raining, he was listening to a melancholic song while looking through the window at the city that had been his home the past four years. 

He was headed to New York. He’d gotten a job as a photographer in _ Sketch Magazine_, one of the most prestigious in the city or at least that’s what it said in an article he read the night before applying to the job. Nevertheless, he was nervous, like with any big change that life brought him or any change in particular really; let’s just say he was still trying to figure out how to manage them well. 

But London had sure helped. He remembered the panic attack he had on the plane when he flew all the way from Hawkins. It was the first time he left his hometown and the first time he left the country, and boy was he scared. Scared of not being able to maintain his art scholarship, scared that the university had made a mistake and didn’t want him anymore, scared of not being good enough, scared of being alone in such a big city.

_ But that was all in the past now. _

Besides, not everything was gonna be new in this new chapter of his life. He was finally gonna be reunited with his best friends and he was so looking forward to it. He felt the timing of this new job coming in perfectly, the magazine been set in the same city all their friends were currently living in. So he was taking the opportunity as a good sign. 

The rain had stopped when the cab finally arrived to its destination. Mike looked up to the sky with hopeful eyes, like if the **lost stars** behind the grey clouds were gonna give him a pep talk so he wouldn’t feel so sappy anymore. He took out his suitcases, paid the taxi driver and took a deep breath before entering the airport. 

** _New york, please be good, _ **he whispered to himself, but it was more like a prayer.


	2. A familiar face.

“Move over, asshole!” was the first thing El heard when she walked out the door of her apartment building. _ Good morning new york, _ she thought_. _ As she walked to the subway station that was close to her apartment, the thought of how much she needed a coffee crossed her mind. _ She really shouldn’t have stayed up all night working. _

After a couple of minutes, with a sigh of relief from arriving just in time to catch her usual train, she payed for her ticket and sat on the last spot available. She then began to unravel her headphones, placing each one on the correct ear before pressing shuffle; _ Alone Again by Gilbert O’Sullivan _ started playing and she repressed a smiled. 

_ Well, how appropriate. _

El decided to let in the —sort of— calmness of the moment, thinking it was probably the most peace she was gonna have all day until she finished work at night. All this due to the fact that she had to plan a cover shoot, a new years party and a whole cultural section in. four. weeks.

_ Nothing to be fucking stressed about. _

She had been working at WW Magazine for two years now, in which she went from intern to head of the cultural department. El loved her work, each month the magazine featured six different women that worked in different fields: science, fashion, sports, business, gastronomy and arts/communication —which was now under the name of culture because El felt it was more inclusive— after all, the magazine’s acronym stand for Wonder Woman and their main goal was to empower women by giving them a space to show their craft. 

So when her boss had assigned her last week the task of planning january’s magazine cover —besides her culture section— and therefore the company’s new years party, she felt honored and excited. But it wasn’t until she went back to her office that reality hit her like a cold shower in the morning: she had only five weeks to plan everything. It wasn’t like she hadn’t designed a cover before, the magazine rotated monthly the field that was gonna be on the front and El had been pretty happy with the covers her and her team had achieved in the past, because she surely couldn’t have done it all by herself. Nevertheless, she was nervous cause this was the first issue of the year, which meant it _ had to _ be good cause they couldn’t start off the year on a low, specially when they had increased their views and sells.

Finally arriving to her stop, she quickly walked off the station; the cold breeze of December making its presence and causing her to shiver. 

On the way to her office, El couldn’t help but embrace the view of a very common heated and crowded morning in the city, were everyone walked through the streets in their own little world. There were two musicians, a girl and a guy settling their space to sing near the exit of the station, meanwhile other people had their eyes locked to their phone screens while others —like her— prefered to only listen to music. Some looked pissed and tired, some looked happy and ready to get to wherever they were headed. Every person so different, each one with a story she’ll never known, but that she sometimes liked to let her imagination flow and give them one. 

The sound of the car honks brought her back to reality, _ okay okay I’ll stop daydreaming now, _ she sighed. When the traffic lights finally changed to red, she made her way through the crosswalk and then into her workplace, greeting the receptionist with a smile and a very relaxed _ Good Morning_. 

The doors from the elevator closed in front of her and the silence made her remember about all the meetings she had to do once those thick grey doors opened in the tenth floor, but she brushed off that overwhelming feeling and decided to think about something different, like all the different people she had seen just a few minutes ago in the streets. And an idea crossed her mind: Why did she had to choose only one women to star in the front cover when she could feature all six women? I mean, all of their works were different true, but they were all gonna be together in the magazine anyways, so why choose one over the other?. After all, she didn’t like just one thing and the people who read the magazine didn’t like one thing either; plus, the magazine had never done a cover with more than one women, so it could really helped to bring the attention. The doors opened and before she knew it, she was headed into her boss’s office to tell her about _ her _ new idea. 

—————

“Fuck, that means we’re gonna have to reschedule,” el frowned when she saw the date her calendar marked, “god, until december 15th.”

Greta, her assistant —that honestly felt more like a friend— looked at her with a concerned expression on her face. “I know, sorry El. I asked repeatedly but Shay said she was coming back from her trip until the 14th. Also, her interview was last week so she didn’t thought it would be an inconvenience.” 

“Don’t worry, it’s just that I wanted to do the photoshoot next week so I had more time to focus on our section and also plan the party,” she gasped, rubbing her eyes. “Whatever. Let’s focus on the things we have control of,” she glanced at her, “make sure the stylist, hair and makeup and the rest of the team is available for that day so we can start building the concept of the cover. I’m gonna check the portfolios of the photographers now.” 

Greta closed the door to her office and El began to take the portfolios out of her cabinet, putting them in a pile on her desk. 

_ Let’s see what we have here. _

Almost an hour and a half later, El had managed to looked through five portfolios and she had only chosen one possible candidate, a female photographer from California. She really liked the way she played with the colors and tones in her pictures, plus her website and Instagram page showed that she had recently photographed for two local magazines. Her having experience was a good thing, but El still wasn’t fully convinced.

“Come on…” she looked at the name of the last person’s portfolio she had to go through “** _Michael Wheeler. Please be good_ **.”

And surprisingly to El, he was. The pictures he had chosen to display were incredible, as well as the ones in his website. Most of them were portraits of different people, but what caught her attention the most was the interesting choice of what look like hand-made and not photoshopped backgrounds that added more to the story of the picture itself and the person in it. 

It gave El the idea of idea of changing the plain backgrounds they always use to one more complex and fun. _ And with all the six women in the cover, we could really do something great here, _she grinned from excitement, already picturing the photoshoot set and thinking about all the elements they could create.

_ God bless you Michael Wheeler and your inspiring art, I could even kiss you right now. _

Cut to forty minutes later, El had gotten to the conclusion that Michael Wheeler was —indeed— the most suitable candidate for the job. After studying his portfolio and looking at _ almost _ all his social media, she discovered that he had shoot three magazine covers in the past, even got some background in cinematography and was, in fact, so _ freaking _ cute —not that cuteness was a need in this job but El wanted to make sure she had stated that. 

Although, she couldn’t shake the feeling that he looked awfully _ familiar _, but she didn’t remember where she had seen him before so she just decided to put aside the idea.

She brushed her hands softly against her computer keyboard before beginning to type. It only took her a couple of minutes before she hit the _ send _ button, smirking proudly at her computer screen where the email she had written to Wheeler stared back at her. It was short, but very persuasive and El had made clear that the magazine wanted to work with him. _ She _ wanted to work with him _ . _ Not only for the cover shoot but for her cultural section too, she was interviewing the cinematographer of A24’s latest movie. It was a great choice and judging from his work, he seemed like the type of person who thinks out of the box and El _ loved _ people who creates out of the ordinary. 

Now she was just hoping _ —praying— _ that he said yes and was available on december the 15th.

Suddenly her phone started ringing, cutting off any more thoughts she could have about Wheeler. A smile appearing in her face as soon as she saw the name of the caller, sliding her finger through her phone screen to answer. 

“Hey! Do you want me to– what the fuck dude can’t you see it’s a red light? I’m just as stuck as you in this mess asshole,” max shouted, making el snort. “Maxie, you do know the driver from behind your car can’t hear you, right?” she questioned her best friend, mostly teasing knowing she didn’t care whether or not the person from behind had heard her insult.

Max bluffed. “Yes, but he can see my middle finger in his direction,” el breathed out a laugh, shaking her head. “Anyways, I was calling to ask If you wanted me to pick you up from work. It’s friday remember, hangout with the party,” max murmured from the other side of the phone but El wasn’t listening anymore. 

Her attention was now set in the view she had from her office window. She didn’t even notice when the stars and moon had taken over, but she wasn’t complaining. 

“El? Are you still there? Or you got distracted and probably didn’t hear what I said.” 

She blinked repeatedly. “Shit, sorry sorry. I got caught up looking at the view here, it’s just that the sky looks so pretty tonight. But yes, please pick me up. I’m starving,” she mumbled as she began to grab her things and closed her computer. 

“Great because I’m already at your building. Get your ass down here before they charge me for parking”.

El closed the door to her office, realizing as she walked to the elevator that she was the last one in the floor, which wasn’t unusual. When she finally came out of the elevator and proximately the building, it wasn’t too long when she spot max in the black kia they shared, entering quickly to the car so she wouldn’t get cold. 

“Hi! I’ve missed you,” after a long week, it was really nice to see her best friend. “We literally saw each other this morning, El” max giggled as she started the car and drove back into traffic. “So what, I’m not allowed to miss you then?” she complained “Besides, we barely talk in the mornings and you know it, we’re too sleepy to function correctly.”

Max’s answered by giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. “How was your day?” el asked, now getting comfortable in her seat. “It was busy actually, I had to go to our place and shower first cause I stinked. There’s some new kids and I couldn’t stopped myself from teaching them the basics, I had to keep reassuring them that everyone sucks at skating in the beginning, it’s like a rule.” 

“So you’re basically saying they suck.” el couldn’t help but gasp. 

“Yes, but they won’t suck in three months.” max declared with a look of her face that screamed _ I won’t let them suck in three months. _

“Wait, the rules don’t apply to me then, remember when you tried to teach me in 8th grade?” el chuckled.

“How can I forget? you almost run me over!”.

“In my defense, you were the one who suggested I practiced in the street. I wasn’t ready!” el gasped, her arms crossed and mouth slightly pouted. Max opened her mouth in disbelief, “Oh shut up, you had been practicing for more than a month by that time! You needed to practice in order to learn.”

“And where did practicing almost lead to? oh yeah, our death.” 

“You’re so dramatic” max gave her a glare, shaking her head. “Whatever,” she rolled her eyes, “at least I looked pretty badass holding that skate.” 

“That I can‘t deny. Firm grip Hopper.” max playfully answered. 

“Why thank you Mayfield. It means a lot coming from a pro.”

“Talking about pros! The teens are almost done preparing for the January tournament in Washington. I mean, I don’t wanna say they’re gonna win, but they’re pretty fucking good El, you should have seen them practice today” max blissfully said, a smile dancing across her face and el knew she was proud of her students. 

“Well, I’m sure they’re gonna win cause they have the best teacher”. 

“I’m not their only teacher you know” max shrugged. 

“Yes, but we both know you’re the best out of them all, so no more discussion.” El just loved seeing max so excited and passionate about her job. She looked out the window and saw that they passed the pizza place that was close to dustin’s place. “Hey, should I call the boys and ask if there’s still any food left? We’re kinda late.” 

“Yeah don’t worry. I told lucas I was gonna pick you up and he said that he was gonna save us some pizza.” max noted, her eyes always on the road. 

“He was gonna save us or _ you _ some pizza?”

Max’s glared at her before looking back at the road, not even her blue distracting eyes being able to make the soft pink that invaded her cheeks go unnoticed. “Ha ha very funny, he was gonna save us _ both _ pizza”.

“Yeah yeah, I’m sure he doesn’t wanna make you mad.”

Ignoring her comment, max parked the car in front of Dustin’s apartment building. They both got out and proceed to rang the bell of his apartment to let him know they were downstairs. In no time, he was opening the main door and greeting them with a long hug and a smile that made his eyes wrinkled. “Hey, you came! The four of us were starting to get worried something happened to you.”

They began to walk upstairs. ”Sorry, I got caught up in work,” el apologized. “Wait, did you say the “four” of us? I thought it was only the party hanging out” el frowned in confusion. 

“Oh yes! It’s only the party hanging out. But now we’re finally complete and have achieved our last evolution and supreme form,” he dramatically answered, arching his back and putting one fist in the air and his other hand on his hip, making what she thought was a weird superhero pose.

Max and El looked at each other funny and simply shrugged, not saying a word.

“Mike moved in with Lucas last week. Surprise,” dustin finally said as he opened the door. “Wait, Mike’s here?” max shouted, a surprised look on her face that el noticed shift into a small smile once they walked in the apartment.

She left her coat at the entrance, hearing laughs that came from the living room and soon enough recognizing her boys, well her boys and a familiar face she had seen pictures of just, like, an hour ago.

_ Fucking Michael Wheeler. _

Wait, _ the _ Mike that the boys and Max were always talking about was the same Michael Wheeler, photographer and cinematographer, that she had been looking —not stalking— just moments ago and had sent an email to see if he could work with her? 

_ That’s why he looked so god damn familiar. _ Of course she had seen him before, in every picture that the boys had showed her from when they were little. He was even in that weird prom picture max had in the living room of their apartment. 

_ Young, pre-pubescent michael wheeler was in her freaking living room and she didn’t even know. _ Well, he wasn’t pre-anything anymore, he’d definitely grown. Shit.

“Well see who finally decided to join us,” said lucas, cleaning his greasy hands with a toilet paper before standing up and giving her a hug first and then one to max, much longer.

El noticed her brother walking towards her, finding max on his way and greeting her first. Shortly, her eyes catched his and she lifted one eyebrow. “So, now that you’re famous you’re not gonna call your sister anymore William?” 

“Maybe if you weren’t busy all the time, you would receive my calls,” will fired back, not caring that her arms were crossed he still hugged her, and quick enough she hugged him back. 

“If isn’t mad max herself, it’s been a while” el heard a disembodied voice said as she pulled away from her brother, one she had never heard before so it _ had to _ be mike’s. 

“No one has called me that in years, you idiot, who by the way, doesn’t say he’s moving across the country to where we all live!” she whipped, giving mike a light punch in his right arm before hugging him.

“Auch! I know, I know sorry. It’s just that everything happened within a week and I only told Lucas because I wanted to ask him If I could stay with him for a while,” mike shrugged, rubbing his arm. 

Max’s glare was now directed to Lucas. “And you didn’t care to mention it when we talked over the phone?” 

El knew max wasn’t really angry, just annoyed that she didn’t know beforehand. As to El, she was still a little shocked about the whole situation. Not in a bad way, just merely shocked and weirded out by how the universe worked.

“Wow, Lucas. Lying to your girlfriend is not okay bro,” will calmly said, just enough sarcasm in his voice to bother lucas before he could say anything in his defense. 

As everyone sat down in the sofas, el grabbed a pizza from the box set in the small round table. The conversation was now mostly directed to tease lucas, but at the same time dustin and will added childhood stories to the equation. She was so entertained watching them that she almost missed when Mike sat next to her.

_ They still hadn’t introduce each other. _

Before she said hi to him, El began to think that maybe the best thing to do was act like she didn’t know him at all —and ignore the fact that she had been looking at pictures of him and studying his work, and you know, _ also _ wanting to work with him. So yeah, she was gonna play it cool. After all, she was a different person with her friends than with her coworkers, and Mike and her were probably gonna become friends eventually since he moved to the city and the party hang out pretty often. _ Just because of that. _

“Hey, you’re El right?” 

She looked at her left, only to see mike’s hand awaiting for hers to shake. To be honest, she was more of a hug or kiss on the cheek kinda person when she wasn’t meeting people at work, but she’ll take it.

“Yes, I’m El. So nice to _ finally _ meet you Mike,” she shaked his hand with a firm grip.

_ Cold hands, _she noticed. And it was like Mike read her mind, cause he tensed and pulled away almost immediately. 

He looked different in person, _ cuter. _ He was wearing a navy blue sweater with dark grey pants and a pair of black & white vans. His curly hair falling down his face, not enough so she couldn’t see his brown eyes, those brown eyes that were still looking at her with a look she couldn’t decipher. _ What is he trying to say and why can’t I stop looking at him? _

Max coughed. “You guys okay?” the room went silent, making el snap out of her thoughts and look back at her friends who were all staring at mike and her with slight smirks on their faces. “You guys were just looking at each other without saying anything”.

_ Great way to make it awkward. _

“Yeah, um it’s just that this is like the first time El and I meet” mike stuttered with a honeyed voice, brushing the back of his neck with his left hand.

“Shit that’s right, you guys have never met before,” dustin frowned “El this is Mike. Mike this is El. There, problem solved.” 

“Thanks Dustin” she rolled her eyes, sarcasm pouring. ”So, you moved in last week with Lucas, how’s that going?” she moved her gaze to find Mike’s, who seemed surprised she was talking to him again. 

“Well, If you leave out lucas loud snores and lack of grocery shopping, it’s been really great.” he answered, making everyone laugh.

“Oh shut up, my snores are not that bad. Right Max?” 

“And why and how would Max know that?” dustin interjected, moving his eyebrows up and down. 

All the attention shifted to Max, her blushed cheeks almost matching her fierce hair. “Because Lucas falls asleep every time we’re watching a movie, so stop it with the eyebrows henderson. And yes, you snore _stalker._” 

“Whatever,” lucas crossed his arms into his chest and sank into his seat, “You can go grocery shopping too Mike since it’s _ our _ apartment now. Don’t blame it all on me”.

“El and I switch every week to see who does the shopping. You should do that to save yourselves from starvation,” max suggested, looking first at mike and then at lucas who’s gaze softened when it meet hers. 

“Yeah, we came up with a planner and everything, so it won’t affect our work schedules. Also, we established the basic grocery shopping list and we can just add what we need or take out anything that’s still left for the week” el added with a proud smile.

“That’s, actually really genius and organized. I’m impressed,“ mike said, curling one side his mouth. 

El lifted up one eyebrow, directing her words to him. “Geez, don’t sound so surprised.”

“Oh, no I didn’t mean it like that. I think you’re very, really capable and I,“ el interrupted him before he could mumble anything else, “I know we are, I’m just messin with you mikey” she winked at him, flashing a smile. Mike’s mouth opened a bit in surprise, breaking the eye contact with her.

_ Did I just? God, that wink came out of nowhere. _ Flirting much? Wait, did mike think she was flirting with him? _ Was she flirting with him?. _l mean, she just met him but...

She stopped herself right there, not wanting to overanalyze what was just a fun gesture. Purposely trying to be discrete, she then looked at him from the corner of her eye and could have sworn his cheeks were slightly blushed. 

_ Oh. _

“Wait, why weren’t we invited to such movie sessions Lucas?” dustin blurred out of nowhere —saving her from giving a second thought to mike’s _ now _ blushed cheeks— clearly not wanting to drop the topic of max and lucas so easily. 

“That must have been plenty of movie sessions since you know so much about lucas snores” el added with a guilty grin on her face, not being able to stop herself from joining on the fun of teasing her best friends. 

“El, what the fuck!” max thundered, glaring at her. Mike’s laugh filled in the silence, his hands on his stomach and head slightly pulled back, contaging will and dustin with laughter as well. 

_ That laugh is something I could get used to, _ was the **quick ** thought that passed through El’s mind, but she _ felt _ it.

A smile graced Mike’s features. “Man, I’ve missed this”. 

—————

“You should have seen how him and Jonathan bonded over photography, El!” will shaked his head looking at Mike, “I think he was more sad when Jonathan left Hawkins than when I left after 10th grade.” 

“Don’t sound so jealous, will. I’m sure mike missed as much as jonathan’s lessons, right mike?” el smirked and mike nodded in agreement.

“Fuck off both of you.”

The room went silent for a moment and Dustin’s yawned echoed through the room. “It’s past midnight. We should get going el, we don’t wanna drive all the way back with the drunks,” max said wrinkling her nose. 

El gave her a lazy nod, it had been a long week and she was ready to rest all weekend. She stood up and the rest of the party followed her, grabbing their coats and heading out the door after saying goodbye to Dustin. 

“Wait, you bringed the car?” lucas asked with questioning eyebrows as they walked out the building. “Yes, we always do when we come here to dustin’s. You didn’t bring yours?” 

“No, I thought I’d teached Mike how the subway.”

“It’s not like I didn’t used the train back in London,” mike rolled his eyes. 

“Wait, you guys want a ride home?” el asked. “If that’s not too much” mike was the one who answered now, looking at her with doe eyes that made her soft. _ Why is he being so cute for? _

“Come on, it’s in our way,” she reassured him. 

She hugged her brother goodbye, reminding him to call her since it’s been a while from the last time they _ really _ talked due to their busy schedules, and then made her way to the car. 

“I call shotgun,” lucas shouted when he was already sitting next to max. 

She frowned,“You know that’s not how shotgun works sinclair, you say it before not when you’re already seated.”

She was about to open the car door but Mike was faster and did it for her, leaving her paralyzed for a second before she entered the car. Okay,_ she was not expecting that. _

“Thanks,” she smiled at him once he sat next to her, receiving a shy smile in exchange. She buckled her seatbelt and looked forward, realizing that max and lucas were looking back at them with smirks on their faces.

“What?” el asked furrowing her eyebrows. “Nothing, nothing” Max said putting her arms up and turning back to start the car. She gave Lucas an accomplice smiled before heading to their apartment. The car ride went by fast, nobody talked and the only sound that accompanied them the whole ride was Hozier’s voice. Max parked in front of the building and El got out of the car so she could sit in the front with her best friend. 

“Well, um it was very nice to meet you El,” mike said out of the blue, pulling out his left hand —again— awaiting for hers to shake. _Still no hug, huh? _she thought but shaked his _still_ cold hand anyways, not wanting to invade his space. _yet. _

“I feel the same way.”

Suddenly, she remembered the email she wrote him earlier and an unexpected excitement runned through her veins. “Hey, now that you live here we’ll be seeing more of each other.” she blandly said, without trying to sound like she knew something he didn’t. 

“Yeah! Maybe you can, like, show me around,” mike stumbled with his words, “you know, since you’re the one who has lived here longer. That If you want to or if you have the time.”

“Of course” she answered in a heartbeat, which took mike and even herself by surprise. “I’m super busy this week, well this month really, but I can make some time.” 

The sudden sound of the car door closing interrupted them. She didn’t even remember that she was waiting for Lucas to come out of the car. He gave her a quick hug and el made her way into her kia’s front seat. 

Max pulled down her window. “Bye Mike!” she abruptly yelled from the driver’s seat, caughting him off guard and making him stumble a little bit on his way up to the door. 

“Christ max, bye!”

And before el could forget, she joined the shouting. “Text me mike!”

Him and lucas turned around, with a stupefied expression; mike more surprised than lucas who was now blinking repeatedly, as in waiting for el to explain what she just said or waiting mike to answer.

“I mean, so we arrange when I’m showing you around the city.” el added, hating herself for feeling her cheeks burning. Max didn’t even let him answered when she drifted away to their apartment.

“Well you look happy,” max broke the silence after a couple of minutes. El turned to face her, her eyes were looking forward but her eyebrows were moving up and down.

“You look happy too. Is that why Lucas never came out of the car?”

“What? what was that? Sorry, I can’t hear you” max declared, turning up the volume of the music and making el rolled her eyes. 

_ She was happy. _


End file.
